CDT Roundup: 15 Deals, 10 Firms, 141 Lawyers, $8.8B

Inflation results in more than high prices for tomatoes and toilet paper. After nearly a decade in which the price of money hovered near zero, persistent inflation has apparently hammered down the appetite for M&A from private equity, dropping global M&A by 48 percent and global private equity deals by 57 percent — 46 percent in the U.S. Claire Poole analyzes reasons for the current drought in this week's Corporate Deal Tracker Roundup, along with the names of the lawyers who fought the headwinds against last week's deals.

March 28, 2023 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 7 Deals, 7 Firms, 78 Lawyers, $14B

It's been five years since New York-headquartered Shearman & Sterling opened its first offices in Texas. The CDT Roundup thought it might be a good time to check in with Bill Nelson, the head of those Texas offices. His thoughts about the transition and the changes he's seen in his practice are featured this week, along with a relatively skimpy roll call of the 78 lawyers who ignored spring break to turn in this week's roster of deals.

March 21, 2023 Claire Poole & Allen Pusey

CDT Roundup: 21 Deals, 17 Firms, 165 Lawyers, $11.6B

CERAWeek, the prestigious Houston energy confab, wrapped up last week. One of the more significant observations emerged from former Goldman Sachs analyst Arjun Murti, now a partner at Veritan. He thinks, for instance, it's time for the term "energy transition" to transition from a political Rorschach test to something more universal, understandable and verifiable. Claire Poole reflects on a few of his other observations in this week's CDT Roundup, along with the usual rollcall of deals and dealmakers who reported for duty during last week.

March 14, 2023 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 20 Deals, 11 Firms, 228 Lawyers, $9.7B

The $2.5 billion acquisition of Ranger Oil by Calgary-based Baytex Energy marked the first merger of public upstream companies in almost a year. If there's a renewed public-public phase of consolidation among small-to-mid-cap producers in the offing, there may be evidence of such in the Ranger-Baytex deal. The CDT Roundup explores the merger, along with the usual weekly listing of the deals reported by Texas lawyers.

March 7, 2023 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 13 Deals, 14 Firms, 130 Lawyers, $5.4B

Regrouping is a powerful incentive for many M&A deals. This week's Roundup looks at a couple at a couple of billion-dollar energy transactions that should have come as no surprise for that reason. Also, a quick look at the recent work of Stephen Noh, a former sports management major who now plies his eye for detail to million dollar deals at Kirkland. And, of course, there's the usual roster of Texas lawyers who worked on last week's reported transactions.

February 28, 2023 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 14 Deals, 12 Firms, 158 Lawyers, $5.7B

This week the CDT Roundup gives a tip of the hat to Winston & Strawn's Mike Blankenship, who has begun the first two months of 2023 on fire in what has become a rare form transaction: the traditional IPO. More on that, as well as the week's roundup of Texas-related transactions.

February 21, 2023 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 16 Deals, 12 Firms, 137 Lawyers, $12.1B

Are IPOs on their way back? If the first few weeks of 2023 are any indication, the answer depends on your point of reference: Maybe. Or sort of. Or hope so. After a lackluster 2022 when markets were pestered by war, inflation and defensiveness, a new study by Fidelity Investments suggests a modest rebound may be on the horizon. The CDT Roundup looks at the stats, as well as the cast of lawyers and firms behind 16 deals reported last week.

February 14, 2023 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 17 Deals, 15 Law Firms, 140 Lawyers, $8.1B

Numbers for the week ending Feb. 4 were actually far better than the week prior, or even the same week a year ago. More on that, and a spot-check on what Simpson's Chris May is up to in this week's Corporate Deal Tracker Roundup.

February 8, 2023 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 7 Deals, 7 Firms, 75 Lawyers, $2.2B

At best, 2022 was a mixed year for upstream M&A across the U.S., according to Enverus Intelligence Research. The numbers looked big, $58 billion across 160 deals. But the reality is that they were down, particularly in deal count, even when compared to pre-pandemic averages. The CDT Roundup takes a look at a few companies whose deals defined and, in some ways, defied the market, as well as the law firms that are advising them. Of course, there is the usual roundup of last week's transactions.

January 31, 2023 Claire Poole

CDT Roundup: 17 Deals; 16 Firms; 146 Lawyers; $5.8B

The new year has arrived with an uptick in O&G deals, typified by this week's sale by Chesapeake of Eagle Ford assets. This week's CDT Roundup takes a look at that deal and discusses the near-term market for similar transactions with one of the lawyers who advised Chesapeake. And as always, there's the CDT review of the week's transactions and the lawyers who advised on them.

January 24, 2023 Claire Poole